On this Eve of The New Year, I want to wish Everyone a Very Happy New Year....A Very Healthy New Year, and a Very Prosperous New Year filled with love....the love of family, the love of friends...weather they be of the human persuasion or the animal persuasion having more than two feet....
And, if you are on the road tonight...please do drive carefully....
I thank all of you out there in the Blogesphere with all my heart, for enriching my life these last few months and for reminding me that there is kindness and loving generosity of spirit out there in the world. And more often than not, I think....loving strangers hold out their hands to other strangers making of them, friends.
Anne Frank, wrote in her Diary almost every day when she and her family were attempting to survive in an attic during World War Two...and in one of her entry's she said these words....these very touching and profound words....even though all of them were virtually imprisoned in this attic because of the atrocities of the Nazis...and then of course, unfortuneatly, the Frank Family were captured by the Nazis and sent to concentration camps, where Anne Frank died. But her beautiful diary, lives on. And in that diary Anne Frank wrote in her own hand, these words:
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart..."
And I say....Amen. Amen.
SECRET SANTA A HUGE SUCCESS!Someone loved their "Secret Santa" gifts....Yes, lucky boy that he is...he got two gifts! One is the toy he is watching over in these photo's and the other was a great eating-type treat..."Feline GREENIES"....Chicken Flavor....Yummmy...his favorite!)
In these pictures Sweetie is resting for a moment on his favorite spot....coveting his toy....and making sure that he is the only one who gets to play with it...I'm not sure what he has in mind because I'm the only other person who lives in this house and I stopped chasing his toys about a week ago!
(It's true, he knows I love the Valentine Heart Shape....so maybe he's worried I'll pounce on his toy and scurry away with it and try to hide it from him....he needn't worry...I stopped sniffing catnip about two weeks ago!
'Secret Santa' was a very fun thing to participate in and I would urge anyone who didn't do it this year, to think about doing it next Christmas. I know, I know....it's really too soon to be thinking about next Christmas when no one has truly recovered yet from this Christmas...but...it was a very special thing to be a part of and as far as Sweetie is concerned he enjoyed both parts to it....the giving of a gift and the getting of a gift....who could ask for more....
Here's another example of the friendships that can happen in the Blogesphere...see, my lovely's, these friendships can include our dear four footed friends as well as ourselves!
Amazing, the wonderful benefits of blogging, isn't it?
It's almost the New Year of 2006!
How could we be more than halfway though this decade already when it was just finally the year 2000??....
What are you doing New Year's Eve?
I won't be doing a Thursday Thirteen, cause I just don't have the time...I am racing against the clock to see as many of these movies as I can before the voting deadline...which is the end of this week! (Help Me!)
I promise, I'll do one next Thursday...
Meanwhile....
KUKLA, FRAN & OLLIE
I was watching the Game Show Network one day and in particular, Match Game...I always liked Match Game because there were people on it who were friends of mine and it was really off center, which I liked....and they were all really pretty silly which I love....
The way it worked, if you have never seen it, there are six 'stars' who are on each week....and two contestants competing against one another...and the wonderful Gene Rayburn, who had an early morning radio show when I was growing up...yes, my lovely's, it was before television, and it was wonderful...and HE was wonderful...he had what I used to call a "breakfast voice"...which was a great thing to me...anyway, Gene (the 'breakfast voice') Rayburn was the MC of Match Game....and 'Questions' would be asked like...."Dumb Dora was so dumb....(and the audience would all scream....'How Dumb Is She?'....) 
and then Gene Rayburn would read the rest of the question and the rest of the question would be something like this..."Dumb Dora was Sooo Dumb that when her husband asked her to cook something for dinner, she cooked a...BLANK...!
Then the six stars would write their answers on a card, filling in that 'blank', and when they all were ready, the contestant who's turn it was would be asked by Gene Rayburn to give his or her answer... 
and the hope was that all the stars would have written down something that matched that contestants answer, and when and if all six stars matched that contestant, he or she was the winner and then went on to the next level where that one contestent was asked to fill in the blank on a short phrase, like...BLANK Sucker. (the possabilities included:All day; Blood; and Sear..)
Then, picking out three of the six stars to win one of three levels, $100, $250, and $500....trying to match the most popular answers to this phrase that had been asked of 100 people. THEN, the contestant would choose one answer that one of the 3 stars gave or choose an answer of their own...and depending on if they got a 'Match' with one of those stars, continue on for the BIG money which was 10 times the 'correct' answer given, and once again choosing ONE star to go head to head with on the final question..(such as: Shelley Blank) which had to be an exact match. Nobody ever won a huge amount of money because it wasn't there to win (though it looked pretty good back then though, didn't it?)...but a lot of laughs were had by everyone....it was a very simple easy fun game that was very benevolent in it's competativeness...nothing ruthless here, whatsoever.....it was a different time...
Of course the draw here, were the 'stars. There were two "regulars" all week, every week for all the years it was on... 
Brett Somers and Charles Nelson Reilly. I just happened to know both of them...I had met Brett back when we were doing "Spoon River" on Broadway..and she was a lot of fun and a very good actress, too.... 
And Charles, who is a wonderfully funny, clever, and an extremely talented actor-director....and they sat next to each other on the 'Match Game' panel and always sparred in jest, (they were very good friends) which made for a lot of laughs...Then there were the semi regulars...in the first chair on the top tier it could be anyone from Nipsy Russell to Pat Morita ....but it was always a 'man' in that position...And in
the 4th position it was always a female star of some television show...Eva Gabor, Lee Meriwether, 
(another old friend) or Barbara Eden, etc...women known for their beauty as well as their talent...
In the fifth position usually always a man of humor...like Richard Dawson or McLean Stevenson or 
Dick Martin...and in the last position it was always a female associated with humor.... and there were a couple of 'Semi' Regulars..Betty White, Marcia Wallace and Fanny Flagg 
....So this made for a wonderful mix of silly clever people and it is great fun to watch the re-runs...
So....all this is by way of getting to Kukla, Fran & Ollie. 
I don't know if any of you will remember them or if you don't, will even know who they were....They were, in a word, SUBLIME! Clever, Witty, Funny, Talented, Quick as Quick-silver, and so sweet and filled with love. KF&A, which came from Chicago and was broadcast "live" every day--no tape, no film-- started out as a kids show, but adults loved them a lot, because what they did trancsended age...their fun loving humor was ageless.... 
Kukla and Ollie were puppets....'voiced' by and held and moved by, as well as having been created by Burr Tillstrom....coming from the mind and heart of this brilliantly and uniquely talented man....and Fran was an actual 'human' who was in front of the little proscenium, where Kukla & Ollie performed while Fran stood in front of them talking with them or singing with them or many times, laughing with them.
Kukla was the heart of the show...a sweet, kind, loving little guy...Ollie was a 'Dragon'...and he was adorable looking... 
he had along neck and this Dragon Fur on the top of his head, and this one-single tooth, (adorable!!) and he could be somewhat selfish and slightly mean..(Never really seriously mean, mind you...) and he was often rather narcissistic, where as Kukla was completely without ego...They played off of each other so beautifully...and their love for one another was undeniably clear and these relationships were the basis for all the humor that would ensue each day; and Fran's love for both of them and all the other Kuklapolitan Players was at the heart of this innovative very dear show, too, coming into our living rooms, every day...early evening really...through the magic of this then pretty new medium, television.
The thing is: They never seemed like puppets...they were, 'People'. As sure as you and I are flesh and blood people...THEY were flesh & blood people..so when Fran conversed with them it was 'people' talking to people, and it didn't matter that Ollie looked like a Dragon...he was such a whole personality, as was the very dear Kukla, too...your imagination made that 'leap of faith'...and they were as real as you and me 
....you just wanted to hug both of them!
A miraculous thing to have done, at that time....Burr Tillstrom was a true innovater and pioneer in the Television field....and their fans were legion and loyal, beyond words. This show was a little bit of 'love' in your day...a day that might have been very very hard...but would be eased by the simple humanity of these wonderful people who just crawled into your heart...and stayed there, forever...look, I'm still talking about them....and I still love them just the way I did when I first 'fell in love with' them.....you see, they captured my heart, and they still have it.
I was reminded of Burr Tillstrom's brilliance the other week when Kukla & Ollie were in 'The First Chair' in The "Match Game" re-run, for that week....the only thing missing on Match Game was Fran, and of course some of the other characters that Burr Tillstrom had created for the "Kukla, Fran & Ollie" show all the years before...Some of the other Kuklapolitan Players were, Madame Ooglepuss, Beaulah Witch, 
(A hilarious character, that I truly love, love, loved!), Cecil Bill, Colonel Crackie and Fletcher Rabbit. There were a few other characters, too...like Dolores Dragon...Oliee's relative...They would put on plays and do special songs written especially for them...and as I understand it, they never used a written script, as such...but talked about many every day things, like paying your taxes...Tillstrom always said: "...you don't need a script when talking to friends"...Oh, how right he was. And this show had a very great influence on all the other 'Puppet Shows' that followed, like Sesame Street and The Muppets...without Burr Tillstrom and Kukla, Fran & Ollie there would have been no Sesame Street or Muppets....Tillstrom paved the way for them....
Kukla, Fran & Ollie crawled into the hearts of their viewers and generated an incredible amount of fan mail, plus never changing the basic way in which the show was presented, using that little proscenium with Kukla & Ollie behind it and Fran Allison in front of it....I think the thing I remember most about them was the love that was always present in all that they did...they loved each other in spite of their differences, and we, the audience LOVED them, with all our hearts....a love that went on for decades and here, for me, still goes on, watching a rerun of a show from the late 7o's when they were already considered 'nostalgia', then! 
Amazing...simply amazing. Now here it is almost 2006, and Kukla, Fran & Ollie can still fill me with this warm soft loving feeling that makes me smile whenever I think of them. That's longetivity, in a career. Burr Tillstrom is gone and so is Fran Allison...so, therefor, that means Kukla & Ollie are gone, too...never to be heard from again...except in old kinescopes or tapes of there classic performances, or on The Game Show Network, in reruns of "Match Game".....these are the true treasures of a lifetime.....
,our greatest living Broadway composer, who said, about the song, "The Two Of You", which he wrote in 1952 on a whim for the Kukla, Fran & Ollie Show, which he greatly admired:)
"I sent it, they rejected it," Sondheim remembers. "Burr Tillstrom, the show's creator, never even knew of it; his executive producer sent it back without even listening to the song. I finally gave "The Two of You" to Burr, though. When he did 'Side By Side By Sondheim' in 1978, he sang it with the spotlight very tight and Kukla on his arm and then, I think for the first time in his career, the spot came up and you saw his arm inside the puppet. He'd never revealed the puppets as puppets before. It was very moving." (Available on "Unsung Sondheim)
Burr Tillstrom and Kukla, Fran & Ollie made 'magic'.....True, memorable magic.....
And this was how....
For a special treat, go to the comments and scroll down to Danny's comment and click on the word HERE, or click on the name just below here and see some hilarious clips of Kukla,Fran & Ollie....My two favorites are the "Mikado" clip with Madame Ooglepuss, and Beaulah Witch in The Spanish Dance Clip...
Thank You Soooo Much Danny, for this....I've just spent a truly delightful hour back-in-time, with these very dear dear people....
YOU'VE GOT TO BE TAUGHT
I've been thinking quite a lot about this particular 'lyric' this last week or so....The GREAT Oscar Hammerstein wrote this particular lyric for the song of the same name, with music by Richard Rodgers, for their now very famous Broadway musical, "South Pacific".
This was written almost 60 years ago, and the above lyric is still as current as if it were written yesterday, I'm sorry to say....and of course it doesn't just apply to the color of one's skin, or the shape of one's eye....it apply's to almost anything that your parents might have believed or that you believe that you pass on to your children or, in the case of your parent's, prejudices that they passed on to you, that became part of your belief system because that is what they believed and ergo, you now still 'feel' that way about...whatever....(Looooonnnnng way around saying: This is how racism of any kind is usually passed on!)
My mother and grandmother hated Crisco.
They were both truly wonderful cooks, and they only used the freshest ingredients and if something called for butter, only butter was used....in truth, only butter was used in all the cooking in our home....And I remember growing up knowing that Crisco was a terrible awful disgusting substitute for butter...NEVER to be used for anything, cause that's what I heard and was taught, from a very very early age!What I've been thinking about is much more hurtful and crippling and in a sense, deadly. I've been rather shocked by the very strong feelings of 'hatred' I have encountered towards the movie "Brokeback Mountain".
I WISH YOU ALL A MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY CHANUKAH & A HAPPY KWANZA, TOO
Enjoy every moment of this weekend, one and all.
And for those of you with darling four footed friends who purrrrr, this might amuse you...A friend sent this to me today and I thought I would share it with all of you....I hope it will give you a smile....and a bit of a laugh, too.
Enjoy Everything......this moment is just as important as the next!
ROPER AND EBERT AND OLDOLDLADY....
Because of my affiliation with The Screen Actors Guild, I am getting to see a lot of NEW Films, at home, on DVD's. I was chosen by the computer along with 2,200 other SAG members to be on the Film Nominating Committe this year...which then will be voted on by the entire membership (over 60,000 or more, now)and the winners announced on the televisied Screen Actors Guild Awards Show on January 29th, 2006.
Here are a list of the filns I have seen, so far...in alphabetical order...with a little tiny review of sorts, for each...remember, my lovely's, just my opinion....!
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN 
- This is a BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL love story of a film....very touching and moving...wonderful performances, superior writing...a MUST SEE...it breaks your heart and is a true 'experience' which is what I want in a film...(weather it is a comedy or a musical or a drama or a love story)...Keith Ledger and Jake Gyllenhall are both utterly brilliant!
CAPOTE - An astounding performance by Phillip Seymour Hoffman...it's the story of how Truman Capote came to write his most famous book, "In Cold Blood"....Another absolutely 'must see' film...
THE FAMILY STONE 
- Wonderful cast, including Diane Keaton and Sarah Jessica Parker...both actresses always worth watching...this is a film about a large family and the outsider, (Sarah Jessica P.) that comes to spend Christmas with them because her fiance is one of the many children of Diane Keaton & Craig T. Nelson.
GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK - Really important film about Edward R. Murrow and the tv show, 'See It Now', where Murrow exposed Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy (through the original video tapes of McCarthy) for the terrible man that he was....David Straithern is magnificent as Murrow and McCarthy is pretty frightening as McArthy....and the ever surprising George Clooney directed and co-wrote the film as well as appearing in it, too. Another 'Must See'....
A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE - Hard film to watch but an imporant statement about violence begetting violence....wonderful performances in this film, too...But, not for children....
"IN HER SHOES" - Cameron Diaz, Toni Colette and the always fantastic Shirley MacLaine in a BEAUTIFUL understated and moving performance...very much worth seeing...it wouldn't surprise me if MacLaine recieved some awards in the Best Supporting Actress catagory this year...(Golden Globe, anyone?)
MATCH POINT 
- The most recent Woody Allen film that in my view is his BEST film since 'Crimes And Misdemeanors'.... a serious film about murder and it all takes place in England and there isn't one character in it who is supposed to be Woody Allen.....Very worth seeing...
MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS 
- The always superb Judi Dench and the always fabulous Bob Hoskins, in a story based on truth that takes place in London just before the 2nd World War...fun and serious, too...a lovely lovely performance by Ms. Dench, but then, when isn't she wonderful?
NARNIA, THE CHRONICLES OF
- BEAUTIFUL, IMAGINATVE, SWEET AND SCARY....(Incredible Fantasy Creatures Come To Life in this film like I've never seen before)...all these things and more...Do Not Miss This Film!
NORTH COUNTRY 
- Another very good performance by the Oh so stunning Charleze Theron....and a beautiful Supporting Actress performance by Frances McDormand...I've never seen her be bad, have you?
PROOF 
- Beautiful Beautiful performance by Gwyneth Paltrow...this film is based on the Play of the same name...Great writing and another terrific performance by Anthony Hopkins....(I LOVE HIM!!!)
RENT 
- An Ensenble Musical Film, very very well done and ALL the performances are uniformally excellent...a serious musical about serious things, but certainly with some humor, too. Very worth seeing....
SHOPGIRL 
- I didn't get it. A very slim slim story with good actors but...why? I mean...I just didn't care about anyone...and if you don't care, what's the point...Someone else certainly could feel very differently about this film...
THE SQUID AND THE WHALE 
- A terrible name, (that doesn't really tell you much about what this film is really really about...which is too bad) for a truly wonderful film with terrific performances by everyone in it! Most particularly, Jeff Daniels, and these two young actors named Jesse Eisenberg and Owen Kline. You might need your handkerchief for this one, though it is terribly funny, too....Laura Linney is also extremely good, as always....
SYRIANNA 
- A fascinating espinage-type story that keeps you on the edge if your seat, and also makes you hide your eyes from some horrificly violent torture scenes...Not for children! George Clooney, WONDERFUL, as always...The whole cast is excellent...with many outstanding performances including but not limited to: Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright, Christopher Plummer, and Amanda Peet...(this woman has a GREAT career ahead of her...)
TRANSAMERICA - An Astounding and thouroughly believable performance by 'Desperate Houswife' Felicity Huffman, based on a true story of a man's struggle with gender re-assignment surgery and all the emotions that go with this life changing act....
"WALK THE LINE - Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix in roles that could bring each of them multiple Awards...The beautiful Joquin inbody's Johnny Cash in an almost scary way....and the same with Ms. Witherspoon as June Carter Cash...AND, they do all they're own singing, too! Another must see fillm....
THE WHITE COUNTESS 
- The last Merchant-Ivory film to be made with all the careful attention to detail and much beauty that they are known for...Remarkable performances by Natasha Richardson and Ralph Fiennes, with the added bonus of Vanessa Redgrave, (Natasha's mum) and Lynn Redrave, (Natashasa'a Aunt and Vanessa's younger sister) carrying on the remarkble 'Redgrave Family Business' now in their 3rd generation on film....in their always most 'truthful', real and remarkably complete performances.
More to come as I see more films....there is a deadline so that's why I'm not out there on the Blogesphere as much right now, as well as the all consuming almost-here-Holidays!
1. I can't believe it's Thursday again..how did that happen? It was just Thursday, last Thursday...I think it came around quicker than usual!
2. I reallly don't have very much to say cause I'm real real tired...too much going on, too little time, you know?
3. I did finish wrapping my presents, sort of...and now I'm trying to get my house ready for New Year's....and my 'Annual' gathering....a 'Tradition' I began about ...well....Let's just say, a v-e-r-y looooonnngggg time ago, back in 'The Dark Ages'....
4. It's a Dinner party and a Game party, too....And it's pretty much the same wonderful sweet friends each year, with the possability of one or two other people who happen to be 'in town'.
5. The game we play is "The White Elephant Game"....each person brings a wrapped-for-Christmas package with them, (they can bring more than one if they are trying to rid themselves of stuff they don't want, or that they think is soooo terrible, that everyone will want it...you know what I mean?)
6. Everything goes over in one place, (usually on the floor), in my Living Room...where, as people arrive, the pile of goodies gets bigger and more interesting with each new arrival!
7. We have lovely things to eat for starters....LOVELY....(Food is a very important part of this night)...Good Yummy Food...and the meal itself is served Buffet style because I don't have a Dining Room Table that seats 16!
8. We eat, we tell jokes as we eat, and generally share much frivloity, as well as getting up to date with everyone...there is a lovely comfort level because we've all know each other for a very long time.... most have worked with each other at one time or another, if not more than one time...and I tell you, once you've shared a dressing room with someone, you really know each other very very well, and pretty much have no secrets...
9. Desert is always a Highlight, cause being a Chocoholic I have to have an AWESOME something in that flavor, sometimes two awesome somethings.....there is always another fantastic desert...A Lemon Cake that is indescribable it's so damned good....and you know, if I say that, seeing as how if it's not chocolate, it's a vegetable to me...this Lemon Confection must be incredble....Well, it is.
10. Then, after coffee, tea, or whatever...we are ready to play 'The Game'. I supply the dice and we sit around in a circle and each person gets to roll the dice and if they get a 7 or an 11, they get to pick out a goodie from the now HUGE pile if presents and they must show it to everyone and keep it where it can be seen by everyone as there is a second part to this game after ALL the presents have been opened. They get to roll the dice again and again, because each time they come up with a 7 or an 11 they can open another present; same rules applying, as before.
11. Some people don't ever get to open a present because they don't get a 7 or an 11....well, it doesn't actually matter, cause that's not when those numbers really really count. So.....after everything has been opened, a timer is set because the group has agreed on how long the second part of the game will last....and then the further fun begins. Now, if you get a 7 or an 11, you get to take anything you want from anyone else in the game. (of course, they can take it back if they get a 7 or an 11...are you getting the fun part??) It's not really a terribly mean game because everyone has many chances to roll the dice as we go around in the circle, and so the chances of getting something you want are pretty evenly divided, but of course the chances of it being taken away are pretty evenly divided too....and the great fun of it is, is when there is something that everyone wants! (Over the years some things have returned to the game once again tempting everyone or repeling everyone...and that's fun, too)
12. There are often very very good things in this game; things that a lot of people want. And then, there are the awful crappy things that no one wants, but which are reason for lots and lots of laughter. Then, as we get closer to the 'time' running out, a fever pitch begins to happen and the dice go around the circle, faster and faster...and then, finally the game is over. (One of the rules of this game is, no one may leave anything they won here in my home...cause I have enough crap of my own!) And now, it's close to midnight...and Peach Champagne and Sparkling Apple Cider are served; We go out onto my deck that has this 180 degree view of the city, and as the clock creeps up to Midnight, we can hear Shouts and Booms and often we see beautiful Fireworks....and if it's a very clear night, like tonight, for instance, we see even more firworks, of course. Everyone hugs each other and kisses each other and wishes each other a Very Very Happy New Year....then we go back inside and usually the last of this lovely crowd of people leaves around 2am.
13. It makes for a very 'family like' New Years that everyone seems to look forward to each year and we all certainly enjoy the evening and each other, and our White Elephants or our Treasures!
Having eaten more than we all want, having enjoyed every morsel, each of us is ready to begin the new year, having spent the Eve of it with a loving group of friends and relatives....I'll try to take pictures this year, if I can get my Digital Camera to download them again. A new problem every time you turn around when there are all these toys to play with...but such fun!
WRITE A TINY REMEMBRANCE FOR THE HOLIDAYS
I found this on Bhakti the other day and thought it was a lot of fun! I have edited it a tiny bit because it is Christmas....but, don't let that stop you from being as creative as your dear little heart desires....
RULES:
If your eyes are passing over this right now, (even if we don't speak often) please post a comment here on my blog with a COMPLETELY MADE UP AND FICTIONAL CHRISTMAS MEMORY of you and me. It can be anything you want - good or bad - BUT IT HAS TO BE FAKE. And, if you feel like it, when you're finished leaving your comment, post this little paragraph on your blog and be surprised (or mortified) with the memories people create....(isn't this fun?)
Oh my, I can't wait to read what each of you remember....and as always,anything goes, my dears....
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